When India formally takes over the year-long presidency of the influential Group of 20 (G20) nations on 1 December, it will have an opportunity to leave its mark on the premier global forum for dialogue and cooperation on economic issues.

Despite criticism of the G20 as a “talking shop” with little muscle to push policy implementation through, leading experts such as Gateway House Executive Director Manjeet Kripalani and Distinguished Fellow Rajiv Bhatia emphasise that this is a “unique grouping, where developing and developed countries come together with equal status”. There is truth to that assertion. It is against this backdrop that India’s 2022-2023 presidency of the G20 provides it with a leadership opportunity that must not be squandered in endless debates over the heft ~ or lack thereof ~ of the grouping.

For, despite its limitations, it is undeniable that over the 20-odd years of its existence, the G20, given its constitution, has exemplified the “intricate interaction between the geo-economics and geopolitics of the contemporary world”. Yes, the grouping is consultative in nature as opposed to being treaty-bound but that doesn’t mean it is not an effective tool to influence global economic and financial policy.

New Delhi has an opportunity over the coming year to leverage the strengths of the G20 and, in the process, showcase its leadership abilities on the world stage. As any diplomat worth her salt will tell you, in the contemporary world where the nation-state is the primary unit of global interaction, that’s half the battle won as perception plays a key role in how a nation is viewed by its contemporaries.

Stewart M. Patrick, Director of International Institutions and Global Governance at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, underlines the fact that the G20 provides a platform for the world’s most important advanced and emerging economies to harmonise their approaches to global challenges. As one of the official Indian presentations in the run-up to the passing of the G20 presidency baton pointed out, the forum represents 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.

These are not facts to be sneezed at. Kriplani and Bhatia write that ever since the G20 was elevated to a summit level in the aftermath of the US sub-prime crisis in 2008 which subsequently became a Western, and then global financial contagion, presidents and prime ministers began holding regular bi-annual and later annual confabulations with the single goal of preventing another global financial crisis.

The intersection of geopolitics and global economics, illustrated by the crisis in Syria which led to massive migration into Europe, caused the G20 to expand its scope. The Covid-19 pandemic has ensured it stays that way.

The core charter of the G20 includes, apart from working to promote global financial stability, the goal of making globalisation work for all nations. Managing the pushback against globalisation across many parts of the world currently being witnessed is possibly the most significant challenge for India as it prepares to assume the G20 presidency. If New Delhi succeeds in evolving a consensus on upholding the value and effectiveness of multilateralism in global affairs, its presidency will be a success. It is this India must strive for